''Seven Days in Sammystown'' is the third studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV and ...

, released in 1985. This was the first Wall of Voodoo album to include

Andy Prieboy Andy Prieboy (born April 17, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He was lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo from 1983 to 1988. He went on to record solo albums, musicals and wrote a novel. Life and career Prieboy was born ...

on vocals and Ned Leukhardt on drums—following the departure of frontman

Stan Ridgway Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original le ...

and percussionist

Joe Nanini Oliver Joseph Nanini (1955 – December 4, 2000) was an American rock drummer, most famous for being the percussionist and a founding member of new wave group Wall of Voodoo during their heyday in the 1980s. He was known for playing with pots, ...

—and also features the return of original bassist

Bruce Moreland Bruce "Ravens" Moreland (born January 22, 1959) is an American rock musician and songwriter. He has worked with such bands as Wall of Voodoo (with his brother Marc Moreland), The Weirdos, Nervous Gender, and Concrete Blonde among others. As of 20 ...

. It includes their

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic expl ...

' "

Dark as a Dungeon "Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in a shaft mine. It has become a rallying song among miners seeking improved working conditions. The so ...

". The track "

Far Side of Crazy "Far Side of Crazy" is a song by the American rock band Wall of Voodoo from their album ''Seven Days in Sammystown''. It was released as the album's lead single in late 1985, with an accompanying music video combining black and white and full colo ...

" is featured in the 1985 movie ''

Head Office Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

''. The album reached No. 50 on the Australian charts.

Reception

In a retrospective review,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Rudyard Kennedy judged the album's biggest flaw as retaining the Wall of Voodoo without the distinctive presences of Ridgway and Nanini. Kennedy cited "Business of Love" and "Big City" as examples of failed attempts to imitate the original band, while declaring "Far Side of Crazy", "Room With a View", "Dark as a Dungeon" and "(Don't Spill My) Courage" to all be highlights.

Reissues

''Seven Days in Sammystown'' was released on CD in 1989 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

(USA) on the IRS label and by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

(Australia). In 2012, the album was remastered and re-released by Australian reissue label

Raven Records Raven Records was an Australian record label that specialised in retrospectives and reissues or recordings by American, British and Australian artists. Raven Records was established in 1979 by Glenn A. Baker, Kevin Mueller and Peter Shillito ...

as part of a double CD set with successive album ''

Happy Planet Happy Planet is a private company in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, known for making organic juices and smoothies. The company was started in 1994 by Randal Ius and Gregor Robertson. They originally started out with one farm producing carr ...

'', live album ''

The Ugly Americans in Australia ''The Ugly Americans in Australia'' is a live album by American rock band Wall of Voodoo, mostly recorded at the Palace Theatre in Melbourne in August 1987, during the group's Australian tour. Background Bassist Bruce Moreland had departed the gr ...

'' and three non album bonus tracks.

Track listing

;Side one #"

" (

) – 3:55 #"This Business of Love" (Chas T. Gray) – 4:25 #"

Faded Love "Faded Love" is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills, his father John Wills, and his brother, Billy Jack Wills. The tune is considered to be an exemplar of the Western swing fiddle component of American fiddle. The melody came from an 185 ...

" (

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

, John Wills) – :40 #"Mona" (

) – 4:55 #"Room With a View" (Prieboy) – 2:47 #"Blackboard Sky" (Prieboy) – 4:37 ;Side two #"Big City" (Gray,

Marc Moreland Marc Moreland (January 8, 1958 – March 13, 2002) was an American rock musician. He was the former guitarist for rock band Wall of Voodoo, punk band The Skulls, and rock bands Pretty and Twisted and Department of Crooks. He also released a solo ...

, B. Moreland) – 4:20 #"

" (

) – 4:40 #"Museums" (M. Moreland) – 4:21 #"Tragic Vaudeville" (B. Moreland) – 3:25 #"(Don't Spill My) Courage" (Gray, M. Moreland) – 4:15 *The original LP sleeve contains three errors: "This Business of Love" is listed as "Business of Love"; "Dark as a Dungeon" is listed as "Dark as the Dungeon"; and "Faded Love" is not listed at all. The correct track listing appears on the LP's label, as well as the CD and cassette, although the "Dark as the Dungeon" error can appear on some MP3 listings.

Personnel

Wall of Voodoo *Chas T. Gray – keyboards, vocal backing *

– bass, keyboards *

– vocals, keyboards *Ned Leukhardt – drums, percussion *

– guitars Additional musician * John Parrish – additional percussion ("Museums", "Far Side of Crazy") Technical *

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

– producer *Pete Hammond – remixing ("Far Side of Crazy") *

Gil Norton Gil Norton (born in Liverpool) is an English record producer known for his work with alternative rock bands such as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo Par ...

– engineer *Dave Powell – engineer *Ray Roberts – cover painting *Scott Lindgren – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control Wall of Voodoo albums 1985 albums I.R.S. Records albums Albums produced by Ian Broudie